Nagaland: ‘Delight in His Glory’ to conclude on May 24 with piano masterclass

Dimapur, May 23 (EMN): ‘Delight in His Glory,’ a piano concert with Samuel King, and Albert Kanken Odyuo was held on May 23 at Town Baptist Church in Dimapur.

An update from the organisers issued on May 23 informed that the concert is part of the two-day piano concert and masterclass offered by Golden Crown Theological College in collaboration with Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA).

The duo enchanted the crowd – comprising mainly of music students, teachers and musicians- with several pieces from Norwegian composers such as Geirr Tveitt, and Edvard Grieg; German romantic composer such as Schumann and Liszt; impressionist French composers Ravel and Debussy. 

Musician Jenny He from China who was suppose to be part of the two days event could not come to Nagaland because of issues related to visa.

The duo along with Jenny He (through video) played pieces from Chinese composers and European compositions.

King and Odyuo also played two duets – ‘the rugged cross’ a hymn to give tribute to God, and Libertango – a groovy upbeat number which was the crowd’s favourite.

Other musicians supporting the piano duo includes: Mhathung Odyuo, Benry Moses, and Stephen Odyuo.

Avoni Odyuo, Music Director of Golden Crown Theological College (GCTC), in her opening speech acknowledged the senior pastor, the deacon board, and the management of Town Baptist Church Dimapur for blessing them with such beautiful sanctuary, and for providing backstage assistance including the live streaming of the event.

While acknowledging the support and interest of TaFMA in the fruition of the two-day event, the music director highlighted that, Nagaland is blessed to have a wing that not only promotes music and the arts, but is invested in the capacity building of the music infrastructure of Nagaland – and one of the best ways to improve the musical structure of Nagaland is by education.

The two-day event will conclude on May 24 with a masterclass from 9 am to 12 noon.

Profile of Samuel King

Samuel King has undergone a rigorous and challenging formal education in music, having graduated with Diploma of Music (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore), Bachelor of Music (Honors) in Piano Performance (Royal College of Music, United Kingdom), and Master of Music in Piano Performance awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Presently, Samuel is an adjunct piano lecturer at the Singapore Bible College and a private tutor to aspiring young pianists. He holds appointments as the choral conductor and music educator of

the Hallelujah Oratorio Society and the International Christian Choral Conductor Society, as well as music instructor at Canberra Secondarv School Choir and Pioneer Primary School Choir. He remains an active collaborative pianist, joining fellow musicians, students, and choirs in concerts, competitions and recordings.

Profile of Albert Kanken Odyuo

Albert Kanken Odyuo was born in a musical family from Nagaland. Odyuo started his musical learning at the age of 14. He also has a degree in Economics but music has been his passion and now is currently undergoing his musical training concentration in Piano Major Church Music at Singapore Bible College under Mdm. Teo.

He likes playing Romantic and Impressionist works of Chopin, Liszt and Debussy. He started teaching Piano at a young age to mostly seminary students at GCTC and also worked in Gurgaon School of Music, Urban Raga Bangalore. Odyuo also enjoys working with Church choirs as a conductor, accompanist for choirs and singers and also playing for weddings.

(EMN)